Oh pooh, so an adult kicks a child, big deal

Physical abuse includes “being kicked”; neglect includes “inadequate heating”; and emotional abuse includes “lack of attachment and affection.” Not nice, to be sure, but hardly draconian, especially given the time line: fully 82 percent of the incidents took place before 1970…[C]orporal punishment was not exactly unknown in many homes during these times, and this is doubly true when dealing with miscreants…When most people hear of the term abuse, they do not think about being slapped, being chilly, being ignored or, for that matter, having someone stare at you in the shower…But, of course, there is a huge market for such distortions, especially when the accused is the Catholic Church.

Right, because the Catholic church is the real victim here. Callous bastard.

“The Catholic League” is pretty much Bill Donohue, his amoral defense of arch-conservative Catholic dogma and institutions against any and all criticism, his perpetual readiness to take offense at any media reference to Catholicism that isn’t completely and utterly kowtowing in tone and content, and a small office from which he issues screeds and press releases. Donohue is a loathsome waste of oxygen and I wish the media would stop granting him completely undeserved legitimacy by paying attention to him, let alone soliciting his commentary. His voice fills a much-needed void in our public discourse.

Yes, the spectacle of Donohue issuing “press releases” in which he talks about himself in the third person and then pretends to be quoting himself as opposed to simply talking, is pretty laughable. I could always not give him oxygen too…but I wanted to note the depths to which people are willing to sink.